halfbloodhillooc | THE SECOND HBH TEST DRIVE MEME!

[ Wrinkling her nose, Heather flicks a fallen leaf into his face just as she plucks a strawberry for him. ]

'Cause those girls were dumber than you goobers. I wasn't into the other sports, so cheerleading was a good outlet for me. [ That is, because she peaced out of there without warning to live somewhere else. Heather suspected her dad told them she had gone off to another school. There was no cheerleading at Camp Jupiter -she's sure Praetor Reyna would have laughed at the idea. As for the boy part, it was only natural for a Venus girl to want to steal a few hearts if she could. ]

I'm different now, sort of. You'll see yourself change.

( He winces as though the leaf would actually hurt him, quickly batting it away with his free hand.

Almost mindlessly now, he continues tugging strawberries off of their plant, this mundane task made much easier with the distraction of someone to talk to. Johnny thinks back to those days, figuring it's okay to reminisce for a little while because it's with another person. When Heather had started hanging around, it was weird -- not because there was a girl there, or anything dumb like that, but because without anything needing to be said, Johnny and Tunny knew to back right off because they'd had no chance. Weird.

Even weirder? What Heather just said. He has to stop for a moment, blinking over at her, eyebrows knit together. )

But - I don't want to change. I still wanna be me through all of this, you know?

( Gods forbid he becomes someone else. We know how terribly that would turn out. )

Listen, J, we've all got the same stories, more or less.

[ She keeps loading more strawberries into the cartons, just as kids from the Demeter cabin (Anna, mostly) tend to the plants several rows away. ] You think you're a bad student and that no one gets the weird things that happen to you, when it turns out that you're, like programmed to think that way. And you've got powers and stuff! And there are monsters and creepy as heck earth goddesses that want to eat you.

Come on, tell me that won't change you. [ She folds her arms over her purple shirt with the gold laurels. ] You become, like - the better version of yourself. You're still a dumb kid from Jingletown, but you're also a dumb kid who can save and defend people.

Well.

When you put it that way.

( And he returns to the strawberries as if nothing happened. Leave it to Heather to be the voice of reason, of course. It'll probably nag at him for a while because, jeez, he can't quite fathom saving and defending people just yet, but he's essentially dropping it for now. He'll get over it soon enough.

It's apparently Johnny's lucky day, too, because all of the cartons he needed to fill are just about done -- thanks to Heather's ability to continue picking while speaking, whereas he's just been standing there for a few minutes being useless. What a lucky, lucky day. )

Hey --

Thanks.

( There's no need to specify what for. Just in general. )

[ Heather just grins and shrugs like it's no big deal. As for an old friend, it isn't. Pep talks are her thing, though she might not be as great at giving them to herself.

It's probably a good thing he wasn't born Roman, because the whole Legion thing would get to him. He'd be on the Praetors' bad side before you could say "probatio." ]

What're you doing, man? I'm doing all the work here! [ She laughs. ]

( Oh ... jeez, no. He wouldn't last a day at Camp Jupiter. Actually, he'd be lucky if Lupa's wolves didn't just devour him right on the spot before he could even attempt to get to Camp Jupiter.

Johnny just smiles away, making a point to grab two berries this time because he does feel a little bad about it. )

I dunno what you mean...

[ There's a roll of her eyes just before Heather bends to easily pick up a crate to bring leave for the Demeter kids to wash up and take to the delivery van. She waits for Johnny to catch up with her, snatching a strawberry for herself to brush on the front of her shirt, cleaning it a bit before popping it into her mouth, tossing the leaves into the grass. ]

Mmph. [ She wipes some juice off the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand. ]

( His grin widens in Heather's direction as he grabs a crate of his own, picking up his pace to catch up with her. )

Are we actually allowed to do that, or are you just being a rulebreaker?

( Not that it matters much to him, because he'd already tried a few before (oh, the rebelliousness of it all) - but, well, it'd be nice to know. And, truth be told, it feels a lot better asking Heather a million billion questions than some random stranger who's supposed to be his higher-up. )

What, like we can't eat what we pick? I think that's fair.

[ And she totally helped pick! Not that Heather's any more knowledgable about camp than he is. She's (easily) breaking out of the habits instilled in her since she was about thirteen. Anyway, Heather doesn't mind asking all the questions. She's assertive like that. ]

They won't mind, I don't think. It's not like there's ever a shortage.

It just feels like there are rules about, like, everything ever, so you know. Figured I'd check.

( With a shrug of his shoulders, he decides to grab a strawberry for himself, because why not? Like Heather said, it's only fair. )

I'm not kidding, though. Rules about everything. Surprised there aren't any rules about, like ... what kind of underwear you can wear or how many times you're allowed to blink in an hour.

[ Wow, drama queen. Heather rolls her eyes and gently punches him in the shoulder, making sure not to harm his delicate frame. ]

Please, you're just mad about curfew.

[ No one in the Aphrodite cabin is particularly happy about the boys and girls not allowed to be alone in the same cabin rule, but Heather figures (begrudgingly) that they have a point. When it comes to god and demigod business - people be horny. Especially overactive seventeen year olds. ]

( Oh, no, not his delicate frame! But he supposes he deserved that. )

I am, actually. Shit, just because it's lights out at eleven doesn't mean that I'm gonna fall asleep then. I'm, like, practically nocturnal. It's the worst.

( It's probably a good thing that he doesn't know about that rule just yet, or else there'd be even more complaining. Just wait until he sets his sights on whoever his first infatuation ends up being. Yikes. )

[ Good luck trying to break that rule, because they've got harpies guarding the grounds after hours. ~~Cut to montage of Heather and Johnny racing through these same fields to get away from them.~~

She links her arm through his and tugs him towards the arena where she intends on scaring anyone (see: enchanting them) off if they interrupt their private session. ]

Isn't there stuff to keep you entertained in your cabin?

( Ohhhhh boy. Johnny's in for quite the rude awakening. He'll be glad for his extended practice in running away from the scene of whatever havoc he caused back at home.

He'll gladly be pulled towards the arena, not even considering how poorly this is going to end for him. )

I mean, there's stuff, but it's, like ... all stuff for parties. And since I'm pretty much the only one in there at any given time, I'm not about to throw myself a one-man party.

You're just not being creative. What would dear old Bacchus - sorry, Dionysus say about that, anyway?

[ Along the way, Heather catches the eye of an Apollo kid and accidentally causes him to trip. She winces and whips her head around to make sure he's alright. The whole allure of a Venus child gets stronger when Heather gets excited, except she's mostly excited to pull out her spear again. ]

Sorry, man! Can't help it!

( Johnny lets out a groan at the mere mention of daddy dearest. )

Don't know, don't care.

( Pfft. Please. He knows exactly what Dionysus would say about that, but he'll just continue pretending not to care. Thankfully, there's no time to linger on that, as Heather nearly knocks a kid over just by looking at him. He bursts out laughing, turning his head to watch her accidental victim try to shake it off like nothing happened. )

Dude.

Ugh, shut up.

[ Even though he didn't really say anything. Heather ducks her head in embarrassment. Normally, she'd be glad to show off, but - well, it's Johnny and it's weird since she worked so hard to tone it down around her male friends.

She quickly changes subjects once they approach the armory, releasing Johnny's arm so she can take off and eye up the Greek weaponry. They've got actual Celestial Bronze, which was even rarer than the Imperial Gold she had. ]

( He'll stop laughing, just to be nice, but that doesn't mean that he won't stop grinning about it. It's priceless. Johnny should be safe, in theory, if she's toning down her abilities, coupled with the fact that he's been so, so conditioned to keep his eyes off of his best friend's (maybe) girl. That has to count for something, right...?

Upon arriving at the armory, he crosses his arms, eyes scanning the expanse of weaponry at their disposal.
It makes him feel weird -- he's not scared or anything, but it's like every time he sees stuff like this, it's a sudden reminder that yes, this is all real. His new life. Weird.

He's left a little dumbfounded. )

... Uh.

[ Even if there is a possibility of heading back after the summer ends, Heather doesn't even know how to face Will. He'll probably think she's insane and will hate her forever for leaving him behind.

She won't think about that now, not when she's holding weapons out to Johnny like she's picking his outfit for the evening. And - look, she's already got her spear and shield. ]

What do you think of a dagger?

( When the time comes, it'll be hard for Johnny to decide what to do. There's something to be said about returning home and facing the reality of everything one leaves behind. Hm.

His eyebrows raise as she holds up a dagger. )

That... seems doable?

( He'd always tried to envision himself lugging around a giant sword and shield to some mighty battle and failed miserably. A dagger, though? Probably more his style. )

Lookie. It's smaller than a sword, but bigger than a knife. You've gotta be super skilled and fast with a knife, like Annabeth Chase. [ Heather guides the carved, very Greek handle into his hand with a nudge. ] But you're fast, from what I remember. You gotta work on the graceful part.

[ If only granddad had a pretty gladius or spatha, but the spear was a Mars thing ]

( He glances down at the dagger. It feels surprisingly okay in his hand, definitely light enough which should make it easy to control. His thumb idly grazes along the carvings on its hilt. It's pretty cool shit, Johnny thinks.

His mouth turns up in a smile a she mentions his speediness, eyes looking back at her. )

Oh yeah, that's no problem. There's years and years of fleeing the scene of the crime under my belt. ... but I guess the gracefulness could use a bit of work, yeah.

( Understatement of the year, coming from the kid who regularly trips over his own feet during the most menial tasks. )

Am I just supposed to, like... come at you, or what?

Not in the armory, stupid. You need your armor on first.

[ Replacing her usual weapons, Heather holds two wooden swords, one for each of them. ] Keep the dagger, but we should start with these. That puts us both on equal ground. You can practice blocking me first.

[ Her grin on the way out of the armory implies that she won't go easy on him - but she won't work him too hard either. ]

Sorry, sorry, I got a little excited.

( He's sure to make sure the dagger is good in its sheath before pocketing it for later, taking one of the wooden swords from her. Her - dare he say, evil-looking grin on the way out makes him raise his eyebrows as he follows her out of the armory and into the arena. Briefly, Johnny considers really thinking about what his plan of action in here will be, but instead realizes how clueless he is. Awesome. Off to a great start.

Really, though, all of his best-executed life decisions are made by winging it, or so he thinks, so why stop now?

Inside the arena, he clutches the hilt of the wooden sword with both hands, crouching slightly, wielding it like a baseball bat and smiling like an idiot. )

Batter up.

This'll be more fun than climbing fences, trust me. Remember, we're programmed for this.

[ Heather bounces from foot to foot, swinging her ponytail. She looks more prepared for a cheer routine, honestly, with her pink lip gloss and neverending supply of energy, but here she is with a wooden sword.

In a proper Roman stance with her feet apart, she aims well, aiming for his right shoulder so he can block her. ]

Edited 2013-07-04 04:46 (UTC)

THE SECOND HBH TEST DRIVE MEME!

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